Testing Love
by chey291996
Summary: When Hermione confronts Fred about the twins testing their products on first years the talk goes a little differently than what she expected. How did she get herself roped into helping the twins create and test their products again? Now she's not only testing out products, but she's also testing out her new feelings about Fred Weasley.


A.N.- Hey all, the current rating for this story is T, but it may be changed to M at some point, just a heads up. For now, enjoy the first chapter of my first piece of fanfic. Disclaimer- All familiar settings and characters belong to J.K.R. not me.

The piece of parchment lay crumpled in her hands. Hermione was frustrated with the twins, not for the first time. She knew that they knew testing on younger students was wrong, but they had posted the advertisement anyway. She glanced down at the parchment again.

 ** _Gallons of Galleons!_**

 ** _Pocket Money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?_**

 ** _Like to earn a little extra gold?_**

 ** _Contact Fred and George Weasley,_**

 ** _Gryffindor common room,_**

 ** _For simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs_**

 ** _(We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk)_**

It was eye-catching, certainly. Like all things Fred and George did, she thought wryly. But she still thought that taking advantage of children was wrong. The twins weren't in the common room at the moment. They were probably off making more things for their shop she had figured.

Not wanting to lose her already short temper, Hermione grabbed her bag and left the common room. The library would be the perfect place to cool her temper. Who would bother her there? She wound her way through the crowded halls of chatting students. It was too early in the school year for most students to be particularly worried about studying, and the library was blissfully silent. Hermione dropped her bad and the parchment on the floor and settled into her favorite chair. The chair was one of comfiest in the library but hidden in a corner that not many knew about. It sat by a window overlooking the lake, which was an excellent source for daydreams when she couldn't concentrate, like right now.

Hermione bent over, her hair obscuring her face, and reached down into the very bottom of her bag. She pulled out a small paperback that over the years had seen some wear and tear. Her love of romance wasn't one that she explicitly hid from her friends, just one that they still hadn't noticed. The girls in her dorm had curated a stash of novels and each year would bring back some from home to add to the collection. This was one of Hermione's favorites. It was the story of a girl who fell in love with a rogue who was stealing from some of the nobility of her city. No matter how many times she read it, Hermione would always come back to this book.

She found a comfy position in her chair and curled up to enjoy a few hours of reading. Unfortunately, that time was about to be cut short.

"Look who I've found." A voice from behind Hermione's head whispered, startling her. "None other than our little bookworm, reading what appears to be a romance novel. How scandalous!"

Hermione whipped her head around, which was a feat in her current position, only to see the face of Fred Weasley smiling down at her. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the reason that she had come to the library in the first place. "Fred! First of all, don't scare me like that. Secondly, I need to talk to you, so come and sit down." Hermione's angry tone wasn't as intimidating as normal since she had to remain quiet in order to avoid the wrath of Madame Pince. Hermione gestured to the chair across from her. She was still angry with Fred, but she didn't want to just yell at him. The twins were too determined and smart for a simple bout of yelling for them to change their mind about anything.

He moved to perch on the chair still smiling brightly. "How do you know I'm Fred? I could just as easily be George." But his smile faded a bit when he didn't get any reaction out of Hermione.

Hermione pulled the paper that had the twins advertisement on it out of her bag. Fred grew pale when he saw it, glancing up to try and gauge her reaction. "You know better than this." Hermione said simply.

"Look Hermione, we have to find someway to test our products and it can't just be on me or Fred. We're paying them! We're telling them the risks! It's their own choice to do testing or not." Fred had started rambling, nerves getting the better of him.

"No. I don't care if you're paying them, but they're just kids and don't understand what you're asking them to do!" Hermione said hotly. "You need to stop. I don't care how you test your products, but it isn't going to be like this. Otherwise I'll go to your mother." She leaned back, pleased at the thought that she may actually get one of the twins to listen to her for once.

Fred's freckles stood out on his already pale face as he responded. "Our mother? You'd actually write to her! That's low, Hermione, even for you."

Hermione didn't answer him. It was about time the twins learned that she could play their game just as well as they could. She put her book back into her bag and stood up out of her chair to leave the library. Maybe she could find somewhere that was less distracting to do some reading.

As she turned away Fred grabbed her arm and stopped her abruptly. She looked up, gazing into his brown eyes. Hermione had noticed long ago that whenever Fred was thinking up some mischief or enjoying himself his eyes were bright and gleamed with possibilities. Now they were solemn and serious. "I'll talk to George about it. But I can't promise that I'll be able to change his mind on my own." He let go of her arm and left before she could say anything to him.

Without giving her any time to process what had just happened Madam Pince swooped out from behind a bookshelf. "I heard students being too loud for the library. Out!" She pointed a talon-like finger toward the library doors. Hermione sighed and looked back to where Fred had been just moments earlier. Unsurprisingly, he had already disappeared. She sighed and walked toward the exit with Madam Pince hovering over her every step.


End file.
